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Hegemonic Masculinity Essay

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Masculinity has been classified differently depending upon the approach of the researcher. Joanna Bourke outlines the five ways masculinity can be conceptualized, including biological, whereby masculinity is a product of the biological makeup of men; socialization, where masculinity is a result of the “proper” socialization of men; psychoanalytical, whereby differing masculinities are formed as a result of varying socio-historical and cultural environments; discourse, where masculinity is an outcome of discourses; and feminism, where patriarchy not only restricts men but also reinforces the oppression of women. There are multiple versions of masculinity within any ‘one’ social context. Robert Morrell explains, “Boys and men choose how to behave and this choice is made from a number of available repertoires. Such choices are never entirely free, because the available repertoires differ from context to context and because the resources from which masculinity is constructed are unevenly distributed.” Thus, men in …show more content…

Hegemonic masculinity is sometimes used as a free floating concept, in contrast to the original concept given by R.W. Connell. This concept is firmly attached to the peak of the ladder of historically specific kind of masculinities which include subordinate and inferior masculinities. Hegemonic masculinity was not supposed to be normal to some extent; only few men practise it. But it was certainly normative. It embodied the currently most honoured way of being a man, it required men mostly to be guided by it. Ideologically, it legalized the global dominance of men over women. Hegemonic masculinity took place in certain conditions which were open to such a change. Hegemonic masculinity replaced older types of masculinity and became the prominent form of masculinity during the Victorian

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